Honey ginger beer

If you’re a fan of ginger beer, why not make your own? It’s a simple process although it does take some time to brew this beverage before you can have your first sip. But good things come to those who wait — and I can guarantee you that this will be the best ginger beer you've ever tasted. Don't hold back, add more ginger if you want that extra kick!

Ginger beer mother

Ingredients

Quantity

Ingredient

1 teaspoon

sugar, plus extra for daily feeding

1 teaspoon

ground ginger, plus extra for daily feeding

1/2 teaspoon

instant dried yeast

Sugar syrup

Quantity

Ingredient

440g

sugar

350g

honey

125ml

lemon juice

1 large piece

fresh ginger, peeled

Method

Firstly, we need to prepare the ginger beer mother. Place the sugar, ginger, yeast and 250 ml water in a 375 ml jar and stir well. Cover the jar with muslin (cheesecloth) and secure with a rubber band. Leave the jar in the kitchen at room temperature.

Each day for the next 7 days, feed the ‘mother’ with 1 teaspoon each of sugar and ground ginger and stir well. By day 3, you should see bubbles in the jar from the fermentation process.

On day 7, place two layers of muslin over a fine sieve, strain the ginger beer mother into a large bowl. Squeeze as much liquid out from the muslin as possible. Keep the solids in the muslin if you are going to make more ginger beer in the future.

To make the sugar syrup, heat 500 ml water, the sugar, honey and juice in a large saucepan over a medium heat and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Grate the ginger finely and squeeze as much juice as possible into the sugar syrup. Add 2 tablespoons of the grated ginger pulp (or more according to personal taste), to the syrup. Discard the remaining ginger pulp.

Fill a large stockpot or bowl with 3 litres water, then add the fermented ginger mixture and the sugar syrup, then stir to mix well.

Fill very clean empty plastic bottles with the ginger beer to the base of the necks, and seal. Leave in a cool, safe place for about 5–7 days. Each day unscrew the tops a little to let some air out so they don’t explode. Chill the ginger beer before serving.

Note

You can use the same ‘mother' to make further ginger beer. To do so, return half of the ginger beer mother left in the muslin to the jar and discard the other half. Repeat the same fermentation process by adding 250 ml water and 1 teaspoon each of sugar and ground ginger.